


Convergence Part II:  An Impossible Day In London Town

by mountain_born



Series: The Marvelous Tale of an Agent, an Archer, and an Assassin [54]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Doctor Who/Avengers Crossover Fusion, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-26 09:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20928221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mountain_born/pseuds/mountain_born
Summary: The Doctor has brought in the best people he knows to help Amy and Rory deal with their problem.  But with the Convergence on the horizon, a larger crisis is about to hit London.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So many thanks and kudos to **like-a-raven**, not only for her editing prowess and writing advice, but for keeping me sane in general. Trust me gentle readers, that is a full-time job some days. Any remaining errors, grammatical, logical, or geographical (as we move around London) are my own.
> 
> As I’m sure you’ve surmised from the use of the word _Convergence_ this fic will be set at the same time as _Thor: Dark World._ However the events of that movie are almost entirely happening off-screen, at least up until the very end. And even then some significant _Marvelous Tale_ liberties have been taken. I hope you enjoy the twists.
> 
> This fic is complete and, due to length, will be posted in two sections over the course of two days.
> 
> Thank you for stopping by and reading!

_March 12, 2013_  
_In Orbit Over London_

“The Convergence of the Nine Realms of Yggdrasil. Brilliant.” 

The Doctor peered through the TARDIS’s version of a periscope while blindly scribbling notes in a copy book. Today was the big day. The Nine Realms had been slowly moving into alignment for months. Well, really, they’d been moving into alignment for the last five thousand years, which was roughly when the last Convergence had occurred.

“Maybe it will spark off another pyramid-building craze like last time,” the Doctor said. “Love a good pyramid. I never could understand why they fell out of fashion.” He turned away from the periscope and looked over his shoulder, automatically expecting some sort of feedback. 

The TARDIS control room was empty. Of course it was empty. He was traveling alone more often these days. 

Well, not today. The Nine Realms were moving into alignment right over London. It was the perfect time to drop in on the Ponds. They could pack a picnic and watch the show from orbit. 

“What do you say, dear?” he said to the TARDIS as he adjusted some settings on her control panel and pulled the lever. “Let’s take the kids on an outing.”

The Doctor stepped outside into the Ponds’ back garden and he couldn’t help but grin. Clearly he wasn’t the only one eager for a little adventure. Amy was already there waiting. 

“Pond!” The Doctor waved. “Fancy a bit of high-altitude astronomical sight-seeing? The Convergence is happening today. We’ll probably be able to see straight through to Asgard if. . .we. . .”

He trailed off as he got a good look at Amy. Her face was tense, her back was stiff, her arms were tightly crossed and she looked even more Scottish than usual. “Amy?”

“Doctor.” Amy forced a smile. “It’s good to see you. And that sounds brilliant, Convergence and all. But look, this really isn’t a good time.”

“Since when?” It was always a good time for Amy to go on an adventure with the Doctor. That was practically the foundation of their friendship. “Are you ill?”

“No,” she said.

“Well, is something the matter?” The Doctor’s brain was jumping from possibility to possibility. Something was missing here, something vital. It didn’t take the Doctor long to figure out what it was. “Rory. Is Rory all right?”

“As far as I know,” Amy said. She took a deep, bracing breath like she was about to plunge into an outdoor swimming pool in December. “He’s not here. He’s gone to stay with his dad for a while.”

“What? Why?”

“Because we’re not getting along at the moment.”

“Not getting along?” The Doctor’s brow furrowed. “But. . .you’re Amy and Rory.”

Honestly, he’d left them alone for what? A handful of weeks? A few months at the most? 

“Oh, don’t look like that.” Amy’s face softened. “It’s not that big of a deal. We’re just taking some time off. We’re not signing divorce papers.”

_“Divorce?”_

Amy facepalmed. “Of course that would be the word you’d latch on to.”

“I’m just trying. . .” At a loss for what else to do, the Doctor hugged Amy tight. He let her go again, resting his hands on her shoulders. “What can I do to help?”

“Nothing.” Amy shook her head. “I’m sorry, Doctor, but this is something you can’t fix.” She suddenly looked like she was about to cry. “I’m sorry I can’t come see your Convergence thing. I’m sure it will be grand. Have a good time.” 

She quickly turned and went back inside, closing and locking the door behind her. The Doctor stood in the back garden alone for several long minutes before he walked slowly back into the TARDIS and up to the control platform. Everything felt heavier, like the gravity had gone pear-shaped. 

“Something I can’t fix,” he said, gripping the edges of the control panel. “Maybe she’s right about that. Maybe I can’t fix it.” The Doctor straightened up. “But I’m betting I know people who can.”

The Doctor pulled down the navigation screen and set a course for SHIELD.

*****

_SHIELD Headquarters_  
_Long Island, New York_  
_9:00 AM Eastern Time_

“Well, I’m glad to hear the Indiana mission was a success,” Phil said.

“_Family visit_, Phil.” River shook her head in amusement. “Not _mission.”_

“I don’t know. It felt a little like a mission going into it,” Clint said, filling his and River’s coffee mugs at the briefing room’s sideboard. Clint had actually gone on missions that had required less mental preparation than visiting his brother and his brother’s family.

“Yes, but then you had a good time, right?” River replied.

“I did.” Clint carried their mugs over to the conference table and sat beside River. “I’m glad we went.”

Clint and River had spent the last few days out in Hartnell, Indiana visiting Barney, Lisa, and their kids. Clint and Barney had been circling the idea of having another face-to-face visit for a while. Ever since they’d reconnected last October (after fifteen years of radio silence) they’d been communicating through emails and occasional phone calls. That had been going pretty well, so meeting up in person again seemed like the next logical step. 

Finding a _reason_ for a visit had been weirdly tricky. Going out for a major holiday or event felt like too much pressure, but then so did an unstructured visit “just because.” It had to be a reason that was low stakes, but also warranted a trip halfway across the country. Strategy-wise, it was a conundrum.

Barney had managed to find the sweet spot. A few weeks ago, Clint’s brother had called with the news that his elder stepdaughter, Maddie, had been cast as Wendy in a community theater production of _Peter Pan._ It was kind of a big deal locally, and would Clint and River like to come out for opening night and a long weekend? Clint and River had talked it over, booked a hotel room and plane tickets, and gone to Indiana.

“How was the play?” Phil asked, sorting through the briefing packets in front of him. The rest of the Avengers would be arriving for their weekly briefing soon.

“It was okay,” Clint said. “I mean, I’m not a theater critic, but I thought Maddie was good.”

“She was,” River said. “She made a good Wendy.”

“So, yeah. It was fun,” Clint said. “But I swear to God, _Peter Pan_ is ruined for me now, because do you know who it made me think of the whole time?”

“The Doctor,” River and Phil said in unison.

“Exactly. Strange guy showing up in your bedroom to whisk you off to another world? The only thing that was missing was the TARDIS.”

A sudden gust of wind blew through the conference room. Clint, River, and Phil automatically slapped their hands on their briefing packets to try to keep them from flying away. A familiar pulsing wheeze began to fill the room.

River gave Clint a very dry look. “Just for the record, you did this,” she said over the sound of the TARDIS landing.

Clint, River, and Phil rose from their seats as the TARDIS phased into existence at the far end of the briefing room. The moment it solidified, the Doctor burst out the door like the Oncoming Storm he was sometimes credited as. 

“Good. You lot. Exactly the people I need,” the Doctor said when he spotted them. “You need to come with me right now.”

“Doctor, what’s going on?” Phil said. 

“Is shit blowing up somewhere?” Clint asked. “Steve, Stark, and Banner will be here in a few minutes. Whatever it is we can--”

“No.” The Doctor shook his head. “This isn’t an Avengers Team thing, this is a Doctor Team thing. I need you three specifically. You especially,” he said to River. “There’s trouble in London. Amy and Rory.”

River’s eyes widened in alarm. “What about Amy and Rory?” she said. “What’s happened?”

“They’re fighting about something.” The Doctor sounded harried. “Amy’s crying. Rory’s sleeping at his dad’s. You need to come fix it. Now.” The Doctor took River by the arm and steered her toward the TARDIS. “Clint. Phil. _Shift_. Come on. There’s not a moment to lose.”

__

*****

“Seriously, I can make you a pair if you want,” Stark said.

“I think I’ll pass. Thanks though,” Steve replied.

“She is really handy,” Banner offered, taking off his glasses and holding them out to Steve. “Tony designed her to be able to scan the immediate surroundings, relay communications, monitor my physical vitals. All that and she can fit into a jacket pocket.”

“It sounds handy.” Steve did not move to take the proffered glasses. “But I don’t think it’s for me.”

He wasn’t even sure how they’d gotten onto the subject of _Angelica._ Stark had developed the AI and programmed it into a pair of glasses for Banner. Steve didn’t doubt that it was a useful tool, and a nice gesture on Stark’s part. But he wasn’t ready to have a little technological angel perched on his shoulder everywhere he went. Steve was still getting used to a smartphone.

Steve sped up slightly to get ahead of Stark and Banner and catch up to Agent Lin. For a man with a prosthetic leg, Lin always set a pretty brisk pace. “So, what’s on the agenda this morning?” Steve asked.

Coulson’s second-in-command looked up from his data pad. “It’s mostly just the standard weekly check in,” he said. “And Agent Vasquez will be dropping in to report on the PR side of things.”

“Right.” _How did we ever fight wars without PR agents?_ Though Steve knew that was hardly fair. Public relations had been around in his day, too. Hell, his first job in the Army had been as a propaganda tool. 

“And least there hasn’t been much lately for her to have to. . .” 

Steve trailed off as he and Agent Lin stepped into their assigned conference room. 

“Hey, what’s the holdup?” Start said from behind them. Steve stepped to the side.

“Where is everyone?” Banner asked.

The room was deserted, but clearly it hadn’t been for very long. There were three mugs of steaming coffee on the table. Steve was pretty sure that was River’s jacket draped across the back of one of the chairs. Papers were strewn along the length of the table, and a few were scattered in the floor.

“Did the meeting move?” Stark asked.

“I don’t think so.” Lin conferred with his datapad again. “No, this is definitely the right room. Let me try to reach Agent Coulson and find out what’s going on.”

*****

_Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic. . ._

After running with the Doctor for almost four years, Phil couldn’t say there was much about the Time Lord’s life that he envied. But if he could point to one thing it would be the ability to travel great distances in a matter of moments. Seriously, just the thought of the increased response time was intoxicating.

“Nice weather,” Phil said, even while crossing his arms and wishing he was wearing something heavier than his suit jacket. March in England was kind of the definition of “clammy.” It felt like there was a light rain hanging in the air.

The Doctor had set them down in suburban London in a small neighborhood park. Beyond the wrought-iron fence, across the street, Phil could see a row of terrace houses with small gated front yards and bare window boxes. Once he got his bearings he recognized it as Amy and Rory’s street. Their house was the blue one near the end of the block.

“Yes.” The Doctor looked and sounded distracted. He glanced at Phil, Clint, and River, frowned, and then slapped himself on the forehead. “Oh, damn! I forgot the one who’s good with people.” He turned back to the TARDIS. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back,” he called over his shoulder before slamming the door.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Clint said as the TARDIS took off again. “‘The one who’s good with people’?”

“Hell if I know,” Phil said. He looked over at River, about to ask if she knew who the Doctor was talking about. He frowned. “Hey, are you okay, kid?”

“What?” River glanced at him sharply. “Yes, of course. Why?”

“Because you. . .” Phil considered his words carefully. “You look like someone whose mom and dad are in the middle of a big fight.”

In other words, distracted, worried, and like her brain was in the middle of a rapid-fire evaluation of options. At Phil’s comment, she added _exasperated_ to that list.

“I’m fine. I’m just digesting the news. I talked to Amy and Rory both last week, and they both said everything was fine. At least, neither of them said that anything was wrong.”

“They probably didn’t want to make you worry,” Clint said.

“Oh, for--” River bit off the rest of that sentence. “I am eighty years old. I’m a career assassin. I’m an Avenger for pity’s sake. I don’t need to be protected from things like this.”

“Avenger or not, I don’t think it matters,” Clint replied. “Amy and Rory are your parents. They _want_ to protect you.” Clint frowned a bit, head tilted to one side. “Head’s up,” he added a second before Phil’s ears picked up the sound of the TARDIS’s engines.

The TARDIS reappeared. Phil watched curiously as the door opened, wondering who exactly the Doctor had gone back for. His eyes widened as the Doctor and “the one who’s good with people” stepped out.

“Oh, no. _Hell_, no.” Phil glared at the Doctor. “What is she doing here?”

Valerie Custis raised not one but two eyebrows at him. “It’s nice to see you too, Phil.”

Yes, Phil conceded that probably was not the best way to greet your girlfriend even under these circumstances. “Sorry,” he said. “I just meant that I can’t believe the Doctor dragged you into this,” he added with another dark look at the Time Lord.

At least, judging by appearances, the Doctor had been courteous enough to let Valerie dress for the weather before pulling her onto the TARDIS. She was wearing a green rain jacket, umbrella in hand, and had a large tote bag slung over one shoulder. She was also holding the leash of a floppy, half-grown black puppy. Bingley was already frantically sniffing the ground, no doubt trying to figure out where all of the new British smells had come from.

It occurred to Phil that Valerie looked not unlike a Northern Virginia version of Mary Poppins.

“The Doctor didn’t drag me into anything,” Valerie said. “He stopped by the house and asked if I’d help with this. I was happy to come. And don’t worry. I’m prepared.”

Valerie handed Bingley’s leash to Clint and searched through her tote bag, holding up her passport triumphantly. “Documentation in case I get stranded and need to fly home. Given some of the stories you’ve told me, that’s more than you usually manage to grab on your way into the TARDIS.”

“She’s got a point,” Clint said, rubbing Bingley’s ears. 

“You’re not helping,” Phil said.

It was one thing for the Doctor to whisk him and Clint and River off to take care of god-knows-what. They were trained agents. They had combat experience. Phil didn’t want to say that Valerie couldn’t handle herself in tough situations; look at the way she’d dealt with that screwed up alien experiment in Washington DC last fall. But in Phil’s experience, when you ran with the Doctor, combat experience was a plus.

“I’m also armed. I have two bottles of wine and four types of baked goods in this bag,” Valerie said. “So, Doctor, who do you want me to tackle?”

“You and River should take Amy, I think,” the Doctor said. “And Clint and Phil can go talk to Rory. He’s at his dad’s flat. Here’s the address,” the Doctor added, handing Clint a piece of paper.

“What will you be doing?” River asked.

The Doctor hesitated for an uncharacteristically long moment.

“Staying out of the way, I think,” he said. The Doctor cocked his head as if he were listening to advice the rest of them couldn’t hear. “Yes, I think that’s best. You four go talk some sense into Amy and Rory. I’ll be here. I have things to do.”

The Doctor stepped back into the TARDIS and closed the door.

“Okay, is it me or did he just run away and hide?” Clint asked.

River frowned doubtfully. “From us?” 

“Maybe he just wants to--shit.” Phil fished his buzzing cell phone out of his pocket. “That’s Agent Lin. He probably wants to know where we are.”

“Well, while you guys are getting SHIELD things straightened out, I’m going to head on over and see if Amy’s in a mood to talk.” Valerie reclaimed Bingley’s leash from Clint. “I’ll meet you there, River.”

It took a few minutes for Phil to reassure his second-in-command that his absence and the absence of Strike Team Delta was not due to an imminent crisis and that the rest of the Avengers didn’t need to be scrambled. Thank God, Lin was in the loop when it came to the Doctor. It made explaining the situation a lot easier.

When Phil hung up, River and Clint were conferring quietly among themselves. “Okay, search party called off,” he said. “We have our marching orders. Shall we get to it?”

“Yes, except I’m changing your marching orders, Phil,” River said. “Clint’s going to tackle Rory on his own. Would you stay and keep an eye on the Doctor?”

“Let me guess. You think he’s working himself into a guilt spiral over the fact that Amy and Rory are having issues that are partly if not completely rooted in the stress this past year has put on them?”

River smiled wryly. “You know how he gets. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s blamed himself for things outside of his control. Just try to keep him from doing anything crazy and self-destructive.”

“I’ll do my best,” Phil said. “Okay, we all know our missions. Call if you need back-up.”

*****

Amy hid in the lounge and peeked out the side window when the doorbell rang. She half-expected it to be Brian again, and she was still avoiding her father-in-law for obvious awkward reasons. For a moment she couldn’t place the woman on her doorstep. Then Amy’s eyes went wide and she rushed around to the front door.

“Valerie?” No, her eyes hadn’t been deceiving her. “What are you doing here? Oh, hey there. Aren’t you cute?” Amy added as the puppy Valerie had with her jumped up against her legs.

“Bingley, don’t jump,” Valerie said. She smiled at Amy. “The Doctor brought us over. We just landed.”

“‘Us?’”

“Phil, Clint, and River are here, too. They’re over in the park. Reconnoitering, I think.”

Amy sighed and leaned against the doorframe. “The Doctor really asked you guys to drop everything and come to London because Rory and I are in a fight? Is he mad?”

“Well, you know him better than I do, but I’d hazard a guess that the answer is yes.” Valerie smiled when Amy couldn’t quite hold back a snorted laugh. “May we come in? I promise Bingley is housebroken.”

Valerie Custis was, Amy reflected, probably the cleverest person the Doctor could have picked for this. Honestly, the woman had come armed with wine, baked goods, and a puppy. How was Amy supposed to turn that away?

“Just so you know,” Amy said, squatting down to pet Bingley while Valerie hung up her jacket, “I do not in any way expect you to magically patch me and Rory back together, no matter what the Doctor has in mind.”

“I’m glad to hear that, because I’m the last person in the world to have magical answers about relationships,” Valerie replied. “How about I just keep you company for a while?”

“That sounds nice, actually.” Amy wasn’t used to keeping herself to herself as much as she had this past week. She pushed herself back to her feet. “You might was well come on through to the kitchen. Fair warning, you’ve caught me in the middle of a mess.”

The pantry and half the cupboards were standing open, the tabletop was crowded with cans and boxes, and all of the pots and pans were on the counter. “This kitchen is driving me crazy,” Amy said. “Everything is in an annoying place.”

“Well, _that_ I can help with,” Valerie said, setting her tote bag down in a kitchen chair. “Tell you what. Find us some wine glasses. Then let’s pull everything out and we’ll start over from scratch.”

*****

“Okay,” Clint said. “So we go talk to Amy and Rory. . .and then what?”

They were standing by the park gate, watching mid-afternoon foot traffic go by. River glanced toward Amy and Rory’s house. There was no sign of Valerie, which meant that Amy must have let her in. That was an encouraging sign.

“Get them talking to each other, I’d say,” River said. “They’re not going to work anything out if they stay in separate corners.”

“We could try handcuffing them to each other.”

“If you want to risk a thrashing from Amy, go right ahead.” River shook her head. “We’ll hold that in reserve in case we need to escalate our attempts. Let’s start with trying to get them in the same place.”

They parted company. Clint headed west toward Brian Williams’ place while River crossed the street and walked the short distance to the house. She tentatively knocked on the door.

Amy promptly opened it, holding a full glass of wine. River could hear pop music coming from the kitchen.

“About time. I was starting to wonder where you were,” Amy said, holding the wine glass out to River. “Come on in. We’re just getting the party started.”

River took the glass and followed Amy back to the kitchen. BBC Radio 1 was blaring from Amy’s laptop, the door to the outside was propped open while Bingley cavorted in the back garden, and Valerie appeared to be systematically emptying all of the kitchen cabinets. 

“I have to say, this is not the scene I was expecting,” River said.

“It seems like a good day for a little creative chaos,” Amy replied, picking up her own glass of wine. “So, where’s the Doctor? I figured he’d be with you.”

“He’s back on the TARDIS. Phil’s minding him.” River took a sip of her wine. “So, I’m guessing you know why we’re here.”

“Yep.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” River asked.

Amy considered. “Tell you what. Ask me again in an hour or when I’ve finished my second glass. Whichever comes first.”

“Solid strategy.”

*****

Clint found Rory’s dad’s place easily, a second-floor flat in a small brick apartment building. He took a moment to be grateful he was wearing civvies today, and knocked on the door. A moment later it was answered by a man in his mid-fifties. Clint quickly sized him up; pleasant face, greying sandy hair, heavy around the middle, Rory’s height, Rory’s nose, and Rory’s eyes. Yeah, this was the right place.

Clint quickly pulled up the most guileless smile in his repertoire. _Golly gee, Mr. Williams. Can Rory come out and play?_

“Hi. I’m Clint. I’m a friend of Rory’s,” he said. “I’m sorry to just swing by, but I was in town and thought I’d stop in and say hi. I heard he was here?”

It was a crappy cover story. The number of holes that could be poked in it would get Clint made if not killed if he was in the field and Brian Williams was a mark. Fortunately though, Brian Williams was exactly what he appeared to be: an ordinary, uncomplicated man who took life at face value.

“Of course, of course! I’m Rory’s dad, Brian.” Brian Williams shook Clint’s hand enthusiastically. “So nice to meet you. I had no idea Rory had any American friends.”

“I met him and Amy while they were traveling.”

“Yes, they do a great deal of that,” Brian said. “Well, do come in. Rory’s run down to the shops, but he’ll be back soon. The kettle’s just boiled. Would you like some tea?”

“Sure. Sounds great,” Clint said following Brian into the flat.

_Jesus, this would be the easiest assassination ever_, Clint thought. What would it be like to live in a world where a total stranger showed up on your doorstep and your first response was to invite him in for tea?

Clint sat at the table while Brian got tea together. He assessed the space while he waited. The apartment was neat, but Clint could see evidence of projects going on in different quarters; a half-finished puzzle here, a stack of library books on gardening there, and a golf bag in the corner. 

There were framed family photographs all over the place. Clint saw a picture of a young Rory with both of his parents, and a separate portrait of Rory’s mother. Siobhan Williams had been killed when Rory was nine, hit by a distracted driver while she was crossing the street, of all stupid, senseless shit. He saw a picture of Amy and Rory as kids in matching school uniforms alongside a portrait from their wedding.

Clint sighed as his eyes strayed to the sofa with its pillows and folded pile of blankets stacked at one end. He didn’t know how the hell the Doctor expected them to help Rory and Amy patch things up, but Clint would do his best.

“Here we are,” Brian said, carrying a tea tray out of the kitchen and setting it on the table. “I should have asked if you’d rather have coffee. I know Americans like coffee.”

“No, tea is fine,” Clint said. “My wife’s Scottish, so it’s kind of grown on me.”

Brian perked up. “Rory’s wife is Scottish as well. Well, of course you know Amy. You said you met them while they were traveling.”

“Oh, yeah. I know Amy,” Clint said.

“I gather you must have stopped by the house,” Brian said, his smile fading a bit, “if you knew Rory was here.”

“Yeah.” Brian was clearly skirting around the whole _Rory moved out of the house_ situation, so Clint decided to show mercy and broach the topic himself. Maybe Brian would have some magic insight. “I didn’t see that coming, the two of them have problems.”

“No.” Brian Williams’ face went from pleasant and placid to a mass of worry lines. “And I just can’t figure it. They love each other, I’ve no doubt of that. Something’s gone very wrong, but neither one will say what. All Rory’s done since he’s come here is go to work, come home, and sit on the sofa and mope. He barely says a word.”

Clint’s hearing aids picked up the sound of keys jingling in the hallway a second before the lock turned over and Rory stepped inside carrying a bag of groceries. “Dad, they were out of the. . .” 

Rory trailed off and actually did a hard blink at the sight of Clint sitting at his father’s dining table with a cup of tea. “Clint? What are you doing here?”

“Your friend stopped by for a visit, Rory,” Brian said. “Isn’t that nice?”

“Hey, man.” Clint got up from the table. He smiled apologetically at Rory who was no doubt doing mental math, putting two and two together, and coming up with an answer of _Doctor_. “I heard that some shit was going down, so I came to see if I could help. I’m not sure, but I think culturally this calls for a trip to the local pub.”

“You know, that’s an excellent idea. Rory, you need to get out,” Brian said before Rory could respond. “Honestly, aside from going to the hospital he’s barely left the house in days,” he added confidingly to Clint.

Rory rolled his eyes. “Dad, I really don’t want to--”

“Rory.” Brian’s voice was suddenly very firm. He plucked the bag of groceries out of Rory’s hands. “Take your friend down to the pub. Now.”

He literally shooed Clint and Rory out of the apartment. Once they were out in the hallway, Rory rounded on Clint, hands on his hips.

“So, can I take it the whole gang is here?” he asked.

“Yep,” Clint nodded. “Me, River, Phil, and Valerie.”

“Great.” Rory pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know, if the Doctor could stop interfering in my life for two seconds, that would be utterly _brilliant._”

“I know.” Clint knew the Doctor was just trying to help, but under these circumstances Clint would probably be pissed off, too. “But look, you probably do need to get out. So, we’ll go get some drinks and throw some darts, and you don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to talk about. Okay?”

“Fine.” Rory turned and headed for the stairs. Clint followed.

“Your dad’s nice,” he said.

Rory did actually smile at that. “Yeah. He is.”

“He doesn’t have any enemies, does he?”

That got a look. “No? Of course not. Why do you ask?”

“No reason. Let’s go get that drink.”

*****

When Phil reentered the TARDIS he found the Doctor working underneath the control platform. The Time Lord was on a ladder and, judging by the number of cables hanging down around him, he was rewiring something. Whatever he was doing, it seemed to warrant safety goggles and fire gloves, so Phil made damn sure he kept his distance.

For a few minutes he thought the Doctor hadn’t noticed that he’d come back. Then an annoyed voice came from the mass of dangling cables.

“I thought I told you to go talk to Rory,” the Doctor said.

“You did,” Phil replied. “But River told me to stay and keep an eye on you. And sorry, but she outranks you.”

The Doctor snorted. “I suppose Valerie outranks me as well?”

“Valerie outranks everybody.”

There was some grumbling from the Doctor’s quarter that Phil couldn’t make out. The Doctor climbed down from the ladder, stripped off his gloves and pushed his goggles up onto his forehead. He glared at Phil for a long moment, then sighed and shrugged.

“Fine. If you’re going to stay, make yourself useful. Grab that and follow me.”

The piece of gear the Doctor directed Phil to was about five feet tall and looked like what would have happened if a unicycle, a weather vane, and a lawn mower had a three-way. Phil hefted it carefully and followed the Doctor up the stairs to the control console. 

“What is this thing anyway?” he asked.

“Phase shift detector,” the Doctor replied. “It picks up on slumps in the laws of physics, if you will. Here, help me get it up into the bracket.”

“Are we expecting any of those?” Phil grunted as he helped the Doctor maneuver the contraption into place. “Slumps in the laws of physics?”

“Well, I should say so,” the Doctor said. “It is Convergence Day, after all.”

“Convergence Day?”

“The Convergence of the Nine Realms of Yggdrasil,” the Doctor said. Phil must have had a hopelessly blank look on his face because the Doctor huffed impatiently. “Humans. As a species, you really need to work on remembering your collective history. Nine realms, including Earth, coming into perfect cosmic alignment. Worlds out of phase will be passing so closely they’ll actually pass _through_ each other. Matter, gravity, even light will be able to move freely from world to world. Shifts in the magnetic fields---”

“Woah. Stop. Time out.” While the Doctor was clearly warming to this subject, Phil felt a growing sense of alarm. “You’re saying that his is going to happen here? On Earth? _Today?_”

“Yes.”

“And it didn’t occur to you to alert us?” _Nine Realms of Yggdrasil._ Phil knew that sounded familiar. The Nine Realms included Asgard. Could that be why Thor had been incommunicado? He was busy dealing with a crisis? “How much destruction is this likely to cause?”

“It won’t necessarily cause any,” the Doctor said. “It will be a hell of a show. The laws of physics will become more like rough guidelines, but it’s not inherently destructive. Besides.” The Doctor gestured around at the crowded control panel. “I’m keeping an eye on it. I’d wager there’s little SHIELD could do even if things do go pear-shaped. I needed you all to help Amy and Rory.”

“I’m pretty sure Amy and Rory would question your priorities on this one.”

“Call SHIELD if it makes you feel better,” the Doctor said. “But really, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about. There will probably be some phenomena close to the epicenter, most of which should be very cool. Heavy objects could become weightless and start floating. Miniature wormholes could spring up and spirit people from one side of London to the other in a matter of seconds. We might even see some wildlife migration. And the longer I talk out loud the more I understand why you’re concerned.”

“Thanks for the validation.” Phil had already fished out his phone. He’d give Fury a head’s up then see if he could reach Thor. If Asgard was being affected as well, he might be able to tell them what to expect. “Is there any way to narrow the epicenter down beyond just London?”

“Possibly?” The Doctor looked over his equipment. “The closer we get to the full convergence, the more apparent it will become.” Off Phil’s look, he sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

*****

“Anyway, it hit the point where it seemed like all we ever did was fight,” Amy said. “So, Rory said he thought we needed a break and he went to stay with his dad. That was about a week ago, and we haven’t spoken at all. I don’t think I’ve ever gone a week without speaking to Rory. Not when a kidnapping wasn’t involved.”

River, Amy, and Valerie had emptied every cupboard and drawer in the kitchen and grouped and organized the contents in logical clumps. Now they were taking a break before putting it all away again. Valerie had taken Bingley on a quick walk to do his business and burn off a little puppy energy. River and Amy had retired to the lounge with wine, cheese and crackers, and Valerie’s cookies.

According to River’s mental count, Amy was on her third glass of wine. Confessions had started pouring out midway through the second one. There was a reason why alcohol was a favored tool when it came to light social interrogations in the field.

“I wish you had said something.” River was on her second glass, and while her metabolism was such that it would take a great deal more before she became impaired, the wine was a helpful lubricant. “You could have told me that something was wrong. You didn’t have to pretend that everything was okay.”

“You have enough on your plate,” Amy said. “Avenging. Settling into married life. Getting together with Clint’s brother and his family. How did that go, by the way?”

“It went very well.”

“Good. So, anyway I figured you had enough on your mind. Besides.” Amy twirled her wine glass by the stem. “I was embarrassed, I guess. I didn’t want to tell you that Rory and I were in a fight. I mean, you and Clint never fight.”

“Sure we do.” River made a face. “Well, we argue mostly, but we’ve definitely had our moments.”

She and Clint had their disagreements, just like every other couple in human history. Their big, more serious dust-ups were much fewer and further between. Part of that was due to their personalities and part of it was down to their working relationship; they couldn’t function as partners in a high-stress field if they were constantly at each others’ throats. But they’d had bad rows in the past and no doubt would have them in the future on occasion.

“Oh, yeah?” Amy looked skeptical. “Like when?”

“Like the day you and Rory and the Doctor came to SHIELD for the first time,” River replied. At Amy’s curious look she went on. “That was the day I finally had to admit to him what I was and where I’d come from. The Doctor didn’t leave me much choice in the matter.” River shook her head ruefully. “That was the worst fight we’ve ever had.”

“Why?” The question was a single syllable of pure Scottish indignation. River looked up to find Amy glaring. “What, just because you’re. . .different?” Amy asked. “He had a problem with that?”

“Not at all,” River said. That was the beautiful thing about Clint. He had never cared a single whit about the fact she was nearly fifty years older than him and not quite human on top of that. “He had a problem with the fact that I hadn’t trusted him enough to tell him before I was forced to.” River heard the front door open and close, and glanced up as Valerie came into the lounge, Bingley at her heels. “I’d wager Valerie and Phil have butted heads on occasion.”

Valerie laughed as she sat down on the sofa beside Amy. Bingley hopped up between them, draping himself across Amy’s lap. “Oh, Lord. Back in college we had some fights that would blister paint. For a while we were having at least one a week. It was after his mother died,” Valerie added, leaning over the fetch her glass of wine from the coffee table. “He was working through some stuff.”

“What did you do?” Amy asked.

“We broke up and got back together a lot. Dramatically. It’s a wonder our roommates didn’t kill us both. God, I’m so glad I’m not that young anymore.” Valerie sipped her wine. “We actually managed to part ways on decent terms when he graduated. By the time we reconnected we’d both grown up a lot. That helped. Except for last year when he decided that he needed to break up with me for my own good.”

“He did what now?” Amy said. 

“You didn’t know about that part?” River said. “Phil had an existential crisis, decided Valerie would be better off without him, broke up with her, and tried to date a cellist.”

River had been on assignment in Russia for part of that, but she’d gotten regular updates from Hill.

“What was he thinking?” Amy asked.

“I don’t think he was,” Valerie said. “Actually, that’s not true. It was more like he overthought the situation to the point that he circled back around to not thinking. And in fairness, one of my brothers basically told him to propose to me or let me go. That was really what sent Phil down Crazy Lane.”

“Boys.” Amy snorted. “They can be such. . .boys.”

“Well, I gave Webb hell for it when I found out,” Valerie said. “Phil and I worked things out, obviously, but not without having a few hard conversations.”

“The point,” River said, “is that everyone has rocky spots. It’s not a failing.”

“I know,” Amy replied, scratching Bingley’s head. The puppy looked like he’d passed out in her lap. “Well, my head knows that. The rest of me is catching up.” Amy smiled at River and Valerie. “I’m really glad you guys came. I think I needed this.”

“What are friends for?” River said. Friends? Daughters? However they wanted to quantify it, the sentiment was the same.

River’s mind was already working out the next strategic steps of this mission. Clint had sent her a text; he and Rory were at a pub called the Crown & Anchor on the high street. The address was close by. In a little while River would suggest that they all go for a walk, get some fresh air, let Bingley get some more exercise. It would be easy enough to steer the party in the direction of the pub and then suggest ducking in. 

Amy seemed receptive to talking right now. With any luck, once they had Amy and Rory in the same place, they would talk to each other.

She hoped Clint was having as much luck with Rory.

*****

“So then I suggested marriage counseling,” Rory said, launching his third dart at the board. “I just thought maybe it would help to talk to someone who wasn’t so close to the whole mess. She wouldn’t even discuss it. She said we wouldn’t be able to tell the truth without both of us getting sectioned, so what would be the point?”

“Maybe you could sort of talk around the details,” Clint offered. 

Clint had told Rory that he didn’t have to talk about his problems, and he’d meant it. But it had taken Rory about five seconds into his first pint before he’d started spilling the entire story. He seemed to find talking a relief, so Clint just let him have at it, keeping his own commentary to a minimum.

Clint scanned the pub again, more out of habit than anything. The Crown & Anchor was a neighborhood place, worn, comfortable, and very clean. Rory had greeted the proprietor, Ian, by name. A few old-timers were sitting by the windows, chatting. A German family, tourists by the look of them, were having a leisurely lunch in one of the booths. Clint and Rory had the back of the pub (and the dartboard) to themselves.

Rory collected his darts from the board. “Anyway, I was out of ideas,” he said, returning to their table and picking up his pint. “Nothing was making the situation better. I thought giving us a break from each other would help reset things, maybe.”

“How much of a break are you planning on?” Clint asked, picking up his darts. They weren’t bothering to keep score. If it involved aim and projectiles, Clint was going to win. This wasn’t a competition; this was just something to do.

“I don’t know. I’ve never done this before,” Rory said. “It’s been a week. To be honest I’m not sure how much longer I can stand it.”

“So, go over there and talk to her,” Clint said, launching a dart at the board. It landed squarely in the bullseye.

“What if I do that and it’s just as bad as before?” Rory sounded so dejected that Clint turned his attention away from the board. Rory was slouched over the table, his chin resting on his folded arms. “What if taking a break didn’t accomplish anything? Like I said, I’m out of ideas.”

“It has to be better than being in limbo, doesn’t it?” Clint turned back to the dartboard. “For what it’s worth, I think counseling is a good idea.”

“You do?” Rory said, surprised. “But you hate counseling. At least you seem to whenever you talk about the SHIELD Psych Department.”

“Oh, I do hate it,” Clint replied. He tossed his second dart. Another bullseye. “That doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea. And, just throwing this idea out there, SHIELD has counselors that are cleared to hear some pretty crazy stuff.” 

Clint knew that firsthand. After New York, he had been dealing with a lot of shit. Fury had insisted that Clint attend three counseling sessions a week for a while. Now, almost a year out, that had been cut back to a single _highly encouraged_ session a week, which he’d been keeping up with for the most part. If Amy and Rory needed a counselor that they could be honest with, they could do worse than SHIELD, and Fury could probably be talked into accommodating them.

“I hate it,” Clint reiterated, “but I go. As a result, I’m down to a couple of nightmares a month, my field clearance is solid, and I’m _not_ flashing my junk at popular Neolithic sites. So, it’s a win.”

“You heard about Selvig, huh?” Rory said dryly.

“Oh, yeah. SHIELD’s all over it.” Clint scored his third bullseye and went to retrieve his darts. “So, I have to ask,” he said, picking up his pint, “does your dad know anything about. . .anything?”

Clint certainly got the impression that Brian Williams was in the dark about Rory and Amy’s extracurricular life, and he’d deliberately played it close to the vest back at the flat. But he didn’t actually know what Brian’s clearance level was. 

“Oh, God no. He doesn’t know about any of it,” Rory said. “Not the Doctor, not time travel, not SHIELD. Not River. My dad’s just an ordinary guy. And by that I mean he _likes_ ordinary. I love him, but there’s a lot he’s better off not knowing. As far as he’s concerned, Avengers and Chitauri aside, life is perfectly normal.”

*****

With Rory off (hopefully) having a good time with his friend, Brian Williams packed up a sandwich and thermos and went down to the allotment with a clear conscience. There was nothing like setting out neat rows of lettuce, onions, and radishes to make a man feel that all was right in the world.

Brian brushed the dirt off his knees, folded up and pocketed his trowel, and went to take a rest on one of the benches situated along the fence. He unwrapped his sandwich and poured himself a cup of tea. 

All _wasn’t_ right in the world at the moment, of course. But Brian Willliams was, at the end of the day, an optimist. He couldn’t say why, but it felt like something was about to happen. Maybe it was spring and the smell of wet earth. Maybe it was the unexpected circumstance of finding a strange American on his doorstep today. Maybe. . .maybe it was the fact that the earth in the garden bed in front of him appeared to be swirling.

That couldn’t be right, could it?

Brian got up and carefully stepped closer. At first he thought it was some sort of optical illusion, but no. The ground was definitely swirling in a clockwise direction. Brian reached into his pocket for his mobile. He was about to dial 999 (because it seemed like mysterious swirling garden plots should be reported to _someone_) when a huge flock of starlings erupted from the ground.

Brian fell over backwards with a startled cry. Flat on his back on the damp earth, he watched the birds roil and caw overhead in what sounded like panic before they righted themselves and, as one, flew away. Brian sat up, gaping after them.

What he’d just witnessed was impossible. Yet, much as Brian was loath to admit it, they lived in a time now when impossible things happened. He had watched the attack on New York on the telly last spring like everyone else. New York City was a world away, but what had happened there had changed the whole world, hadn’t it? One thing was certain; an impossible occurrence couldn’t herald anything good.

Brian reached for the mobile he’d dropped, shakily scrolled to his contacts, and dialed a number.

“Rory?” Brian hated to bother his son when he was finally enjoying some time out, but anyone else would think he had totally gone off his rocker. “I need you at the allotment. Something’s happened.”


	2. Chapter 2

_SHIELD Headquarters_   
_New York_

“Stark. Rogers.” Fury gave himself serious points for keeping his tone civil. “I won’t say it again. Sit your asses down.”

He spared a grateful glance at Banner, who had sat his ass down the first time Fury asked. Banner didn’t notice. He was too busy warily eyeing Stark and Rogers who were wearing competing trenches in the carpet of Fury’s office.

“Sit down? We should be halfway to England right now,” Stark said.

“He’s right.” Rogers stopped pacing. He crossed his arms and glared at Fury. “If there’s going to be trouble in London the Avengers should be there.”

“The Avengers are there,” Fury said. “Barton and Song are already on the ground.” On the ground dealing with a personal crisis from what Coulson had said, but they were there. “The Doctor is there too, and he’s not exactly a lightweight when it comes to dealing with things like this. The London SHIELD base is on alert and so is UNIT. I want you three to stay put until we have a better idea of what’s happening.”

“Great idea. Let’s wait until there’s a disaster instead of trying to get out in front of it.” Stark was hitting the sarcasm hard. Freaking out slightly if Fury was any judge.

“It’s a cosmic convergence. I’m not sure there’s any getting out in front of it,” Fury replied. “Look, even if you got on a quinjet right this second, it will take you three hours at best to get to London, and it sounds like if there are any fireworks, they’ll start well before then. But we don’t know if London will be the only place affected. We might need the three of you elsewhere. Or if things go really bad in London, you’ll need time to prep and go in as the second wave.”

“So, we’ll prep on the jet.”

Fury, Rogers, and Stark all turned to look at Banner.

“I mean, we’ll be on a jet,” Banner continued after the slightest of hesitations. He stood up. “If you really need us somewhere else, we can divert. If London is more than Clint and River can handle, we’ll be that much closer to being able to help them. They’re our teammates. They need to be a priority.” Banner looked a little discomfited at the amount of attention being focused on him, but he wasn’t backing down. “That’s my opinion. We should leave for London right now.”

“Boom. Three for three, which beats your one,” Stark said. “Sorry, Nick. You’re outvoted.”

“Banner’s right,” Rogers said. “With all due respect, Fury, you made us a team. Let us be a team.”

Fury allowed himself five long seconds to glare at the three men, because caving immediately to insubordination was not his style. Because that was what he was about to do--cave. He wasn’t even all that mad about it. This was the team he had wanted. Fury reached for his phone.

“I’m calling up a jet and pilot,” he said, just in case his intent was unclear. “You have fifteen minutes to suit up. Go now, before I change my mind.”

*****

_Back in London_

“I’ve got another one,” Phil said. 

“Where?” The Doctor’s voice came from the other side of the control column.

“Brixton, near Ruskin Park.” Phil quickly scanned the text that was scrolling up his screen. “Something about a large truck levitating.”

“I’ve marked it.”

“Are we getting any closer to finding the epicenter?”

“I think we’re starting to narrow it down,” the Doctor said. “If I’m right it will open somewhere south of the Thames and east of the Tower of London.”

Phil had to take the Doctor’s word for it. As far as he could tell, the reports they’d tracked so far had no real rhyme or reason as far as location (or much of anything else) went. The Doctor had configured one of the control panels to be the equivalent of a police scanner, programmed to pick up on certain key words and phrases. They’d been monitoring not only official communications, but social media as well. It was amazing the amount of surveillance you could accomplish by tapping into Facebook and Instagram. 

It was a massive amount of data just given the sheer size of London, and they only sort-of knew what they were looking for. Slumps in the laws of physics were not easy things to track. They’d been dutifully noting anything that seemed to be an anomaly, hoping to find a concentration of activity. A clear center had yet to emerge; the incidents they’d marked were all over the place. 

“We’re not going to be able to evacuate people,” Phil said. “Not in any effective way.”

“It might be safer if they stay in one place,” the Doctor replied, coming around the column to join Phil. “The effects will be at their most extreme at the epicenter, but once we find it, I have something we can use to mitigate the effects a bit.”

“Like what?” Phil asked.

“Gravity spikes. I picked up a whole batch at an auction on Baul’u.”

“How do they work?”

“They’ll stabilize the shifting phase fields. We’ll need to plant them in the ground at the epicenter. They work like a cascading circuit, so we’ll need to make a ring of them. The more spikes we use, the more effective they’ll be.”

“That sounds like it will be dangerous.”

“Doesn’t it just?” The Doctor grinned. “Lucky I brought you and two Avengers with me. Keep looking sharp.”

*****

“I know it sounds crazy,” Brian Williams said, “but I swear it happened. Rory, I know what I saw.”

“Dad, it’s okay. I believe you. I really do.”

Clint kept half an ear on the conversation while he walked a slow circle around the area where Brian had said a flock of birds had flown out of the ground. When Rory had gotten the panicked call from his dad, he’d gone running out of the pub, heading for the allotment at a pace that Clint had actually had to work to keep up with. They’d found Rory’s dad standing guard at the allotment gate, white as a sheet, but determined to keep random passers-by from wandering into the area.

“Clint!” Brian called. “You really should come away from there. It could be dangerous.”

Clint looked up to see Brian waving him over to where he and Rory were standing along the fence. Rory just shook his head and rested a hand on his dad’s shoulder. “He’s fine, Dad. Let him be.”

Clint went back to his examination of the area, not that he had a clue as to what he was looking for. The ground looked undisturbed; there was no churned earth, no sinkholes. There were a lot of black feathers scattered around the perimeter, which seemed to bear out Brian’s story. Clint tilted his head slightly. He could see a faint shimmer against the ground, like a cross between a heatwave and a slick of oil on water. 

Out of curiosity, Clint picked up a rock from a neighboring garden bed and tossed it into the center of the shimmering area. “Huh,” he said as it vanished without a trace. “Rory! Guys, come check this out.”

He repeated the experiment for Rory and Brian. This time the rock not only vanished, but a second later it reappeared in midair about four feet above their heads and fell through the ground again.

“Right. Well, that’s not normal,” Rory said.

“We need to notify someone,” Brian said. “Mrs. Mullins takes care of his plot. She could tumble right in and come out heaven knows where. Should we ring the police? Scotland Yard? Maybe the army?”

“We sort of already have notified someone,” Rory said. “Dad, Clint’s with SHIELD. And he’s an Avenger.”

“He’s a what?”

“An Avenger. You know. One of the Heroes of New York who fought off the aliens.”

“Oh, right. Right!” Brian looked at Clint. He held up one finger in a _don’t tell me_ gesture. “You’re the bloke with the bow and arrows, right? You were on the news a few months back.”

“Yep, that’s me. Bloke with the bow and arrows,” Clint said, fishing out his cell phone. Portals in gardens was over his head. They needed back up.

“And how exactly do you know my son?”

“It’s a long story, Dad,” Rory said.

“But you know how to fix this?” Brian asked.

“Me personally? Not a clue,” Clint said. “But I’m here with some people. I know one of them will have some ideas.”

*****

_I have never been so confused in my life._

Birds were flying out of the ground and his son was friends with an Avenger. Either one of those things would have been a lot for Brian Williams to process on a good day. That was probably his own fault, he reflected. He had never been what you’d call an adventurous soul. Even before his wife had died he’d preferred to putter about quietly at home. After Siobhan’s death Brian been a widower with a nine-year-old son. Widowers with children couldn’t afford to be adventurous. Safety and predictability were paramount.

He was actually glad that Rory had seemed a bit more willing to get out and see the world. Brian knew that Rory and Amy went traveling, of course. But he’d thought that had meant backpacking around Germany or hopping over to Mallorca for a bit of a holiday. He was starting to get an inkling that there was a lot more to it than that.

Clint (_What did they call him on the news again? Hawkeye?_) sent off a text, then went back to circling the afflicted garden bed and occasionally chucking things into it. Within ten minutes though, Brian saw three women walking rapidly up the street and turning into the allotment. Two of them Brian didn’t recognize, but the third was Amy. She greeted Brian with a wide smile and a tight hug.

“Sorry. Been wanting to do that for a week,” she said, letting him go.

“Same here, my girl,” Brian replied. He’d missed his daughter-in-law.

Amy looked past him at Rory and her smile faded. Brian instinctively backed out of their space a little. When he glanced at Rory he saw that his son had his hands stuffed deep into his jacket pockets. Even as a boy Rory had done that when he wanted to run away from something, but was determined to stand his ground.

“Hey,” he said to Amy. “I’m sorry. I know this is awkward, but it looks like this is. . .”

“It’s fine.” Amy nodded. “I understand. Big trouble. All hands on deck.”

Rory smiled faintly. “As always.”

Amy smiled back at him, and Brian suddenly felt like there was a great deal more to that brief conversation than was being voiced aloud. He had no time to dwell on it though because Amy waved the two strange women over for introductions. The dark-haired one, leading a puppy on a leash, was Ms. Valerie Custis of Virginia. The younger woman was River Song, agent of SHIELD. Also, as it turned out, the Avenger called _Talon._ Also the Scottish wife that Clint had referenced back at the flat. 

There was something else about River Song that Brian couldn’t quite put his finger on. It had to do with the way Rory greeted her with a big smile and a hug and how Amy stood with her arm casually draped across the shorter woman’s shoulders. And Agent Song herself kept glancing over at Brian with what seemed like friendly curiosity, though Brian couldn’t fathom why. 

Brian Williams had never claimed to be a genius, but he flattered himself that he was sharp enough to be going along with. There was something odd at work here, beyond birds flying out of the garden beds. He watched Rory, Amy, and Agent Song as the others talked, trying to puzzle it out. It clicked into place when Rory turned to Agent Song to respond to something she’d said. Rory and Amy looked at her like she was. . .

_But that’s impossible. Isn't it?_ So impossible, in fact, that Brian carefully pushed the thought away. He focused instead on what the others were saying.

“Where are Phil and the Doctor?” Amy asked.

“I texted them at the same time I texted you guys,” Clint said. “I have no idea what’s holding them up.”

“Who are Phil and the Doctor?” Brian whispered aside to Rory. If many more people turned up at the allotment they were going to need name tags.

“Phil’s another SHIELD agent. He’s Clint and River’s boss. And the Doctor. . .well, he’s rather a long story.”

Brian was about to point out that they appeared to have time, but was cut off when a brisk wind and strange whirring noise cut through the air. “Oh, God. I think another portal’s opening up. Look sharp, everyone!”

But none of the others looked even slightly concerned, not even when the noise grew louder and an old blue police call box appeared out of thin air. Two men stepped out of it, each one carrying a pair of poles with fiddly bits of metal and wire wrapped around their tops.

“Sorry we’re late,” said the younger of the two men. He looked to Brian like he was playing dress-up as a university professor. “We had to dig the gravity spikes out of storage. Where’s the problem area?”

“Amy. Rory.” Brian stood between his son and daughter-in-law as they watched the Doctor and the SHIELD agents drive the poles into the dirt around the afflicted garden bed. “Kids, you’re really going to need to explain what’s going on here.”

“Well. . .you see, Dad. . .” Rory looked a bit like a boy who was in the middle of a school play and was frantically trying to remember his lines.

Amy shook her head. “Just tell him, Rory.”

“Right.” Rory took a deep breath. “Dad, you know how Amy and I have gone off traveling before?”

“Yes?”

“Well, we’ve gone traveling with him,” Rory said, pointing at the Doctor.

“The young man with the police box.”

“Yes. Except actually he’s an alien, he’s over a thousand years old, and that police box? It’s a space ship.”

“And a time machine,” Amy added. “When we go traveling with the Doctor we travel in Space and we travel in Time.”

“Sometimes we do both simultaneously,” Rory said.

“How long has this been going on?”

“Rory and I have been traveling with him since before the wedding,” Amy said. “But I met him for the first time when I was just a kid.”

That made a few things click for Brian as he remembered some very elaborate make-believe games Amy and Rory had played as children. “He was your imaginary friend, wasn’t he? The one you were always drawing pictures of and the like.”

“That’s him.” Amy folded her arms looking quite satisfied. “_Not_ so imaginary. Take that, Leadworth Royal Hospital Psychology Department.”

“This business of traveling with aliens,” Brian ventured. “Does it have anything to do with Agent Song?”

Rory and Amy exchanged a startled look. “Why would you think that?” Amy asked.

“I’m not exactly sure,” Brian confessed. He wasn’t quite brave enough to bring up his theory. “All of these secret friends of yours are interesting to say the least. But she’s something a bit more, isn’t she? Look me in the eye and tell me I’m wrong.”

He knew that he wasn’t wrong, in point of fact. He could tell by the looks on their faces. Brian waited patiently while Rory and Amy had a bit of a silent conversation on the subject.

“As a matter of fact, Dad, there’s something else we should probably tell you,” Rory said. “River is. . .well, she’s. . .”

“All sealed up!” The Doctor popped up next to Amy. “Just an ordinary garden bed again. Far less interesting but infinitely safer. I knew those gravity spikes would come in handy someday.”

Brian could see that Mrs. Mullins’ allotment portion was now staked out on all four sides by the Doctor’s spikes. The shimmer in the air was gone.

“Yeah, but unfortunately that isn’t even the tip of the iceberg,” Phil said. The others were all gathering around. “Tell them, Doctor.”

“I’m getting to it, Agent Bossy,” the Doctor said. “Right, we don’t have much time, so here’s the condensed version. As we speak the Nine Realms of Yggdrasil, which include Earth, are literally minutes away from coming into perfect alignment which is sparking off phenomena like that.” He pointed back to the garden bed. “And it’s going to be much, much worse at the epicenter.”

“Which we’ve identified as Greenwich,” Phil said, looking harried. “Right over the Old Royal Naval College.”

“Greenwich? Shit,” Clint said, eyes widening. “Naturally, it couldn’t be happening in the middle of nowhere.”

“Sounds like our usual luck,” Amy said. 

“What can we do?” Valerie asked.

“Minimize the impact as much as we can,” the Doctor said. “Phil’s alerted SHIELD and I’ve put in a call to some friends at UNIT. Between the two, hopefully they can steer people away from the area. And if we can drive gravity spikes in at key areas that should ease the effects.”

“You have more of those?” River asked.

“Oh, yeah. We probably dragged a hundred of them out of storage,” Phil said.

“We’ll need to get them into the ground in a circle around the affected area. Which means we’re going to need the whole gang. Including you,” the Doctor said, looking directly at Brian. “Rory’s dad, I assume. Nice to meet you. Now, everyone into the TARDIS.”

*****

A journey from suburban London down to Greenwich should have taken a matter of seconds via TARDIS, but the Convergence had spawned the Time and Space equivalent of stormy seas, making navigation rather difficult. The Doctor was hunched over the control console steering them through it. It looked to River like the Time Lord was cursing under his breath the whole time.

At least the slow journey gave the rest to them time to pull their plan together.

“So, once we land we’ll divide into two teams,” Phil said. “We’ll plant the spikes around the naval college campus and we’ll keep our eyes peeled for anyone who might be in trouble due to the disturbances.”

“And if anyone questions us,” River added, “we’ll just say we’re from the Royal Observatory and we’re conducting an experiment.”

With any luck, they’d be able to stay somewhat under the radar. No need to make a big to-do and cause people to panic. 

“Will people believe that?” Valerie asked as she secured Bingley’s leash to a railing. This was not going to be a great time for a puppy to be underfoot.

“There’s no reason why they shouldn’t. The Observatory is just up the hill from the college,” Clint said. “Espionage 101: If you say a thing with authority, people will usually believe it.”

Clint moved off to help Amy and Rory who were securing the Doctor’s gravity spikes into bundles to make them easier to carry. Phil went to confer quietly with Valerie. That left River with Brian Williams. 

She was a little embarrassed at how she’d been unable to stop sneaking curious looks at him earlier. River had been trained to mask herself better than that. But while of course she had objectively known that Rory’s father was living, had heard stories about him and had even seen pictures of him, the reality of meeting him in person had spun her head a bit. _I have a grandfather. I’ll be buggered._ The Silence had ensured that River had grown up in a happy and secure (if strictly regulated) family home under the care of foster parents, but a grandparent was something outside of her range of experience.

River moved to stand with Brian as a particularly strong wave of turbulence shook the TARDIS. “Are you all right, Mr. Williams?”

Brian hadn’t said a word since they’d boarded the TARDIS, and his eyes were still darting around trying to take everything in. “It’s been a very interesting day thus far,” he said. He sounded so much like Rory that River couldn’t help but smile.

“It has at that,” River replied. _Almost a little too interesting._ She sobered a bit. “Maybe it would be best if you stayed in the TARDIS while we work.”

Brian vehemently shook his head. “No. If Rory and Amy are going out there, I’m going with them. Besides, if we’re planting stakes in the dirt, I’m probably better equipped than any of you.”

“Oh?”

Brian smiled and reached into one of the many pockets of his jacket and pulled out a contraption made of metal and plastic. River couldn’t even tell what it was until Brian twisted it about, snapped the blade into the handle, and held it up triumphantly.

“A trowel,” River said. “You travel with your own trowel.”

“Well, you never know when one will come in handy, do you?” Brian said. “Case in point. We’re off to plant gravity spikes, though I’m still not entirely clear on what those are.”

The TARDIS gave one more mighty shudder, jolted, and was still. “Finally!” the Doctor exclaimed. He almost tripped as he rushed down the steps from the control deck. “Thought I’d never get her parked. Everyone ready? Good. Let’s go.”

*****

The Doctor’s plan was simple and solid, which in Clint’s opinion was exactly what you wanted when you were heading into a potentially dangerous situation. Unfortunately, another of the fundamentals of Espionage 101 was that no matter how simple and solid your plan was, unforeseen elements would screw you over every time.

“Okay, who ordered the giant scary spaceship?” Clint asked. 

Clint and the others had skidded to a halt in unison when they’d burst out of the TARDIS and seen it. The huge black vessel hung suspended over the Thames underneath a hole in the sky through which Clint was pretty sure he could see an alien landscape. _ I wonder which Realm that one is?_

The Doctor was frowning up at the ship like it had mildly offended him. “Well that wasn’t on the radar before. It must have just come through.”

Clint glanced around. There were a lot of people out and about on the quad where the Doctor had landed the TARDIS. Unsurprisingly, they’d all stopped to stare at the ship. Several of them had their phones out taking pictures. At least no one was panicking. Yet. 

“Anyone you know, Doctor?” Phil asked.

“I’m not sure,” the Doctor said, tilting his head and studying the ship. “Elements of it look familiar, but overall? I’m not sure this is anyone I’ve encountered before.”

“Is it just me,” Valerie said, looking uneasy and backing up a little, “or is it getting closer?”

“It’s not just you,” River said.

They were right. The ship was drifting closer, dipping toward the surface of the water, closing in on the river bank. Clint could hear people in the background starting to shout in alarm. _Oh, now you get a clue?_ But they didn’t have time to focus on that right now.

“Maybe they’re friendly?” Brian ventured.

“No way is anyone in that ship friendly,” Amy said. “That’s just not a friendly-looking ship.”

“Do we need a new plan?” Rory asked. “If those are unfriendly aliens, I think a few portals and floating lorries may be the least of our problems.”

Clint caught River’s eye, and he knew they were thinking the exact same thing. Neither one of them was armed. They’d started out this day prepping for a meeting and then had gotten shanghaied into a family intervention. Yeah, he and River both excelled at unarmed combat (River more so than him) but under these circumstances. . .armed would be better.

Clint was just calculating how long it would take them to go back into the TARDIS, get to the armory, load up on weapons, and get back when a low rumble of thunder rolled through the air. River’s eyes widened as something red flashed over their heads. 

“That was who I thought it was, wasn’t it?” she asked. 

There was no need to answer because a second later, Thor landed on the quad just behind them. He looked worse for wear and surprised to see them, but managed a grin.

“My friends, I don’t know what brings you here, but I am happy to see you. As I believe you would say, we have a situation.”

*****

“A situation,” Brian muttered as he frantically scraped a hole in the dirt with his garden trowel. “If this is a _situation_ I’d hate to see what you people call a _problem._”

No one answered him, not that Brian really expected them to. Even Amy, who was holding the gravity spike steady while Brian dug, was too distracted by what was going on around them to take notice. The others were a bit busy doing battle with Dark Elves.

Elves. Really. That was what Thor had called them, but they were unlike any sort of elves Brian knew about. He had a feeling old JRR Tolkien would not have approved at all. They had laser guns for one thing. Brian flinched as a blue bolt blew past them, crumbling a section of stone wall. 

“All right, that’s done it,” Brian said to Amy, pushing himself to his feet. “Let’s get it planted.”

Together they shifted the spike into the hole, kicking and stomping the dirt back in to hold it in place, and Amy flicked the “on” switch. The Doctor had quickly reprogrammed the spikes by, as far as Brian had been able to tell, waving a metal magic wand at them. Now instead of fixing the gravity or sealing up little portals, they were supposed to focus on the Dark Elves and send them back to where the came from. They just needed to complete the ring. 

Brian felt his heart stutter as one of the elves appeared out of the smoke not six feet away from him and Amy. The elf raised its gun to fire on them, but something clobbered it from behind, sending it face-first into the dirt. River, holding one of the elves’ guns like a cricket bat, stood over it.

“All right, there?” she asked Brian and Amy.

“Eh, you know. It’s a bit fraught, but it’s no Budapest,” Amy replied. River grinned at her in response.

“Budapest?” Brian asked weakly. Because it seemed as if he should ask _something._

The girls sobered and River put her hand on Brian’s shoulder. “Come on. We’re safe for the moment. Take a breather,” she said, steering him behind a still-standing section of wall. Amy, dragging the bundle of spikes, followed.

“Have you seen any of the others?” Amy asked River once they were hunkered down.

“I saw Clint just a moment ago. Thor is still on the quad,” River replied. “I’m not sure about the others. Of all the days not to have proper comms.”

Right before the Dark Elves’ ship had plowed into the river bank, the Doctor and Thor had rattled off instructions to the rest of the party. Valerie and Phil taken off at a run toward Greenwich Park where there were going to. . .organize an evacuation maybe? Or rally reinforcements? Maybe both. Brian and Amy had been given a bundle of spikes and were to work their way around one side of the quad while the Doctor and Rory mirrored them on the other side. River and Clint were keeping the two teams and any civilians caught out in the open safe from the elves. Fortunately, most of the creatures were focusing their efforts on the center of the quad where Thor was keeping them busy.

“Do we even know what these things want?” Brian asked.

“No idea, except that they seem to have some quarrel with Thor,” River said. “And they clearly have no concern about who gets in their way.” She smiled ruefully. “That’s generally where we come in.”

“Do you and Rory do this sort of thing often?” Brian asked Amy.

For a moment, Amy looked as if she were going to deflect and demure. Then she shrugged. “Honestly? Yeah. We do.”

“Amy and Rory are two of the bravest people in the Universe,” River said. She cautiously lifted her head, peeking out from behind their cover. “The coast is clear for the moment. We should get back to it. The sooner we have all of those spikes in place, the sooner we can stop the attack. Brian? Are you good? Ready to save London?”

Brian took a deep, bracing breath, gripped the handle of his garden trowel, and nodded. “I’m ready.”

*****

“Negative,” Phil said, pressing his hand against his ear so that he could hear the voice on the other end of the connection. “We have three Avengers on site. They’re working to contain the situation. If you give the order to scramble jets, I will personally make sure you get brought up on charges before the U.N. Do I make myself clear?”

The response he got was clipped and very much “on your own head be it.” Still it was an agreement, no matter how grudging. 

“Why the hell do they always jump straight to _let’s bomb the shit out of the area_?” Phil muttered as he ended the call. It was like the only play bureaucrats knew.

Phil took a moment to look around and take stock. SHIELD and UNIT were setting up an improvised command post outside the National Maritime Museum. They were maybe a quarter of a mile away from the action. Out of the immediate line of fire, but close enough that Phil could smell ozone and hear weapons discharge, and there was no missing the huge alien ship towering over the buildings of the college campus across the street. Periodically Phil saw lighting flash and just minutes ago everyone had been forced to hit the deck when Mjolnir had flown through.

More than anything, Phil wished they had coms at the moment. They all had their cell phones on them, but mid-battle was not a good time to try to make calls. Clint and River surely had their hands full and would only call if someone was actively dying. Phil took the radio silence as a good sign. 

“Sir?” An officer from UNIT jogged over to Phil. “We’ve cleared the student union and the gardens. Beta Team has almost cleared the car park. Minor injuries so far. Just a lot of shaken up people.”

“Good.” Beyond the officer, Phil could see civilians being escorted past the museum, heading for the park. “SHIELD has boats on the river diverting water traffic. Let me know when Gamma Team checks in. We need to get those barricades up.”

The officer (MacGuire, Phil thought her name was) nodded. It was debatable whether or not Phil had the right to take jurisdiction here and order UNIT around, but the simple fact of the matter was that they didn’t have time for the debate. Phil had simply taken over and no one had raised objections. 

“Also, sir, the liaison? She’s one of yours, I take it?” MacGuire asked.

Phil glanced over to where a knot of people (police, museum and college officials, and by the look of it a few reporters) were gathered around a figure in a pale green raincoat. He couldn’t help but smile. Valerie had them all eating out of her hand.

“She is.” It was at least a half-lie given that Valerie had no official standing in SHIELD, but Valerie knew how to deal with the public, and if she was doing it, Phil didn’t have to.

A loud rumble of thunder made everyone look toward the river just in time to see a branch of lighting crawl up around the alien ship. The lightning dissipated and was replaced by a conical cloud of smoke, dust, and debris that obscured the ship from view. 

“Start moving the perimeter back,” Phil said. “And have all teams ready to move in if I give the word.”

*****

Rory went a little wobbly with relief when he caught sight of Amy and his dad. They were several yards away planting their last gravity spike in the ground. The Doctor spotted them at the same time.

“Good. They’re on their last one and we’re on our second to last,” the Doctor said as he hammered the spike into the ground with a rock. “One more and we’ll be ready to activate them and kick the elves back to their own realm.”

Rory wanted to ask the Doctor if he really thought this would work, but he knew it would be a waste of breath. Either the Doctor would lie outright for the sake of being comforting, or he’d throw off a nonchalant _As sure as I ever am about anything_, or similar. 

“And then we’ll have to figure out how to put in the rest of the day,” Rory said instead, shouting a little to be heard over the roar of the black-and-red cyclone at the center of the quad. The Doctor wasn’t the only one who could be flippant in the face of death.

“I was thinking you and Amy could go off for a candlelit dinner and a bit of snogging,” the Doctor said, giving the spike one final _thwap._

“I may ask her,” Rory replied. The Doctor’s eyes immediately brightened hopefully. “Tell the truth, Doctor. You didn’t arrange an alien invasion to get me and Amy back together, did you?”

“Well, that would be rather extreme,” the Doctor said with a snort. “I’d at least wait to see if talking to Clint and River helped before resorting to something like that.” He glanced sideways at Rory. “Did it help?”

“Let’s just say it didn’t hurt,” Rory said, picking up the last spike. 

As annoyed as Rory had been that the Doctor had taken it upon himself to insert himself into the middle of Amy and Rory’s marital issues, it had been a relief to be able to get some of it off of his chest. And given that London had picked today to turn into a battle ground between Thor and a band of overgrown intergalactic pixies bent on destruction, it was handy that the Doctor, River, Clint, and Phil were here.

Rory and the Doctor and Amy and Brian converged on the space between the last two spikes. “This is it, yeah?” Amy asked, nodding at the final spike. 

“Last one,” Rory confirmed. 

“And none too soon. Did you see there’s a bloody great tornado now?” Brian said. “Also, has anyone seen River? Or Clint?”

“We’re right here,” River said, as she and Clint emerged from the smoke and dust. They both looked a little scuffed up and dirty, but not hurt. “The elves all seem to have fallen back to their ship. We were trying to get a read on what’s happening down there.”

“And?” Rory asked.

“No idea. That shit’s too dense to see through,” Clint said. “Hopefully Thor is kicking ass and taking names, but the sooner we call this game the better. Doc?”

“Yes. Right. One final adjustment.” The Doctor waved his sonic screwdriver at the spike. “This one will set off the cascade. Brian? Trowel.”

The others formed a loose ring around the Doctor and Brian, just to be on the safe side. Amy came to stand next to Rory as he stared up at the immense column of dirt, smoke, and red light rising up over the buildings. His focus was diverted, though, when Amy slipped her hand into his. Rory looked over at her, startled.

“Look,” Amy said with the Scottish matter-of-factness that Rory had loved from the first day, “I don’t want to be a cliche, here. You know, like the couple in movies who are in mortal peril so all of their problems just magically disappear?” She looked at Rory. “But I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” Rory squeezed her hand. “We should talk about some things. Once the mortal peril is over.”

“Capital idea,” the Doctor said, popping up behind them. “Glad these elves have been good for something. Allow me to set the wheels in motion.”

The Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver at the gravity spike and pressed a button. Nothing happened for several seconds, then sparks exploded from the top. Rory saw both River and Clint jump and spin around, no doubt thinking the were being attacked from behind.

For a moment, Rory thought the spike had shorted out and they were going to have to come up with a new plan. Then, in the distance on either side of them, he saw the next two spikes throw off sparks. Then the next two.

“I think it’s working,” Amy said. 

Rory held his breath, counting in his head, trying to estimate how long it would take for the circle to complete itself. He could see the others doing the same until the second that the cyclone in the center of the quad abruptly dissolved, and everything went quiet.

*****

“So, they’re gone?” Fury said. “And entire invasion force just vanished into thin air?”

“That’s right, sir.” Phil shifted, trying to get the sun’s glare off the laptop screen. Fury had insisted on a face-to-face check in. “The Doctor’s devices locked onto the elves and sent them back to their own world. And now that the Convergence has run its course and the nine realms have shifted back out of alignment again, they can’t come back. Not easily at any rate, especially since their ship is still here.”

That was the gist, anyway. The Doctor’s explanation had a lot more tangents and required a deeper understanding of physics than Phil possessed. The relevant fact was that the Dark Elves were gone and not coming back.

“One point though, sir,” Phil added. “The Dark Elves weren’t an invasion force. Their fight was with Thor. They just happened to follow him here. The site of the battle was, in most ways, a random accident.”

Fury snorted. “While I agree with you that it’s good they weren’t specifically targeting Earth, the fact that we got caught in the crossfire of yet another Asgardian conflict isn’t going to make the Council feel better. Or the general public for that matter.”

“No, sir.”

“On the other hand,” Fury said, “the fact that two Earth-based Avengers were immediately on the scene should mitigate some fears and control the damage, even if it was sheer dumb luck that they happened to be there. Which begs the question, why _exactly_ are you and Song and Barton in London?”

Phil frantically tried to think of a probable and acceptable excuse, but it had been a long day and he was too tired to come up with anything. “The Doctor brought us over to try to talk Amy and Rory through some marriage problems.”

Fury stared at him for a long moment, closed his eye and slowly shook his head, and apparently decided not to touch the subject.

“Stark, Rogers, and Banner are still _en route_ to London. I want Stark and Banner to start going over that ship right away. There’s not going to be much for Rogers to do, but it won’t hurt for him to be seen there. Fuck, but I hate dealing with optics.” Fury reached off screen for a coffee mug. “Speaking of optics, you had your girlfriend working the perimeter?”

Phil managed not to cringe. “Valerie’s very good at managing people, sir.”

Seriously, that business in Washington DC six months about would have been an even bigger clusterfuck without Valerie’s management skills.

Fury just looked out of the screen, expressionless. He didn’t say anything for several long moments. Phil felt sweat form on his forehead in spite of the fact that it was March in England.

“Tell her she did a good job based on the clips I saw,” Fury said.

No doubt about it. Fury could be a bit of a bastard at times.

“So, you’re turning the scene over to London office?” Fury continued. “Where will you be?”

“Once Rogers and the others land, we’re all going to go back to Amy and Rory’s house to regroup.”

Phil’s eyes strayed to where their entire crew--Avengers, Amy and Rory, Brian, and all--were sitting on the grass. Thor had Bingley, who Valerie had rescued from the TARDIS, in his lap.

“Good. So long as I know where to find you,” Fury said. “And Phil? This should go without saying, but please don’t leave the planet until further notice.”

“Yes, sir.”

_End_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The battle is done, but there are still a few things for our fearless heroes to do. Tune in soon for _Convergence Part III: We Have Normality._


End file.
